Not applicable; omitted.
1. Field of Invention
This invention is in the area of telephone answering devices, specifically a telephone answering device that permits the number of rings before the call is answered, and the speaker volume, to be programmed to vary depending on the time of day and day of the week, or to be set at desired levels for specific lengths of time.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
When a person does not wish to be disturbed, receiving telephone calls can be inconvenient and disruptive. One example of this is a telephone call received late at night, when children or others are asleep. Sleeping children or others are often awoken by multiple rings of a telephone, particularly if a telephone extension is located in or near their bedrooms.
A second example occurs when a home has a second telephone line, which is used to receive business calls in a home office. It is inconvenient to have the business line ring multiple times in the evening, when a person does not wish to answer the call.
Various approaches have been taken to address this problem:
A person can simply turn off the ringer to the telephone. However, if several telephones are located in the vicinity of a sleeping child, a person would have to turn off the ringer on each telephone to achieve the desired level of quiet. In addition, the person must remember to turn the ringers back on. Further, if the ringer or ringers are turned off, a person does not receive any notification that an incoming call has occurred.
Telephone ring silencers connected to a timer or clock have also been developed, and are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,499 to Serby, U.S. Pat. No. 5,317,632 to Ellison, U.S. Pat. No. 5,768,363 to Dautartas et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,812,648 to Wanner.
However, a person would have to deploy these silencers on all phones in a home or office to be effective, and this would be complex and costly. Even if a single timed ring silencer were used for an entire home or office, as suggested in Dautartas et al., the device would need to be located at a central interface. Access to this central interface might be difficult, which would make re-programming the device inconvenient.
Further, when the ring silencing devices of Serby, Ellison, or Wanner are engaged, a person does not receive any notification that an incoming call has occurred with the device of Dautartas et al., a person either doesn""t hear the ringing at all if the volume is set below the audible levelxe2x80x94thus receiving no notification that an incoming call has occurred; or still hears the ringing, however muted, for the usual length of time.
Prior art telephone answering devices are not a satisfactory solution either, since these devices let the phone ring for a predetermined number of rings (usually 2 or 4) before answering the call, no matter what the time of day of day of the week. U.S. Pat. No. 3,979,560 to Darwood shows an example of such an answering device, with a ring detector (the commonly known toll-saver feature). However, this and other prior art answering devices do not permit the number of rings before the call is answered to vary depending on the time of day or day of the week.
Similarly, prior art telephone answering devices do not permit the volume of the device""s speaker to be pre-programmed to vary depending on the time of day or day of the weekxe2x80x94instead, speaker volume must be manually adjusted up and down. To avoid disturbing sleep, a lower speaker volume is generally preferred late at night. However, a person may turn down the speaker volume during the evening to an inaudible level and then forget to turn it back up. This can cause much fumbling to quickly turn up the volume when screening an incoming call the next day.
Thus, it can be seen that an answering device with features that permit the number of rings before the call is answered, and the speaker volume, to be programmed to vary depending on the time of day and day of the week, or to be programmed at desired levels for specific lengths of time, would be a significantly useful improvement over the prior art.
Accordingly, several objects and advantages of my invention are:
My invention takes a new and different approach to solving the problem of undesired telephone ringing, by providing a way to program, for different times of day and days of the week or for a specific length of time, the number of rings after which a telephone answering device will answer a call as well as the volume level of the device""s speaker.
Users can vary exactly how long the telephone will ring before the answering device answers the call. During the day, a longer ringing period would likely be desired, to allow maximum time for users to answer a call themselves. However, during the evening it can be desirable to limit the number of rings before the answering device answers to one ring, or even no rings, to avoid disturbing sleeping individuals. Additionally, the user can set the number of rings before answering at a desired number for a specific length of time. This is advantageous when the user does not wish the telephone to ring multiple times during a meeting, or when carrying a cellular phone into a movie or other event, but nonetheless wishes to receive some notification that an incoming call has occurred.
Similarly, users can vary exactly how loud the speaker volume will be, once the answering device answers the call. During the day, a louder speaker volume would likely be desired, to maximize the ability to screen the call or hear the replayed message over typical daytime home or office noise. However, during the evening it can be desirable to limit the speaker volume, to avoid disturbing sleeping individuals. Additionally, the user can set the speaker volume at a desired level for a specific length of time. This is advantageous when the user does not wish an answering device message to intrude too loudly during a meeting, but nonetheless wishes to hear the message.
Unlike telephone ring silencers shown in the prior art, my invention allows a user to be notified, for example by a single ring, that an incoming call has occurred, without being disturbed by multiple rings. If desired, the user can then check to see if the call was of an emergency nature.
Unlike telephone ring silencers shown in the prior art, my invention does not require a device to be placed on each telephonexe2x80x94my device stops the ring on every telephone in a home or office by answering the call after the appropriate number of rings for a given time of day and day of the week. My invention is thus a lower cost, less complex option than those prior art ring silencers.
Versus centrally located telephone ring silencers suggested in the prior art, my invention can be more conveniently located within a home or office, and thus would be more readily accessible for re-programming as needed.
It is flexiblexe2x80x94the device can be programmed to accommodate any number of different lifestyles, work and sleep schedules, vacation periods, etc.
The programmed mode for the number of rings after which the device answers a call, and the speaker volume, can be easily turned off via the switches shown in my invention. Thus, the number of rings and speaker volume may be controlled manually for a certain time, and then returned easily to programmed mode.
The concepts embodied in my inventionxe2x80x94being able to program the number of rings after which a telephone answering device will answer a call, and the speaker volume level, for different times of day and days of the week or for a specific length of time, are applicable to many different types of telephone answering devices and communication devices, including conventional stand-alone answering machines, software program-based answering systems, cellular and satellite telephones connected to answering devices or systems, and telephones connected to voice mail systems. In addition, my invention can be used with either digital or tape-based answering devices, or with devices using other types of storage media.
Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.